Elon Musk has confirmed that he in essence scuttled a Ukrainian military strike on Russia by refusing to allow Starlink to be used in the process.
The billionaire claims the decision was made to avoid being complicit in a major act of war,but it also raises serious questions regarding the role of oligarchs in military matters.
Musk says when Ukraine made an emergency request to activate it, he refused, and the drones lost connectivity and washed ashore harmlessly, obviously leaving the Russian ships untouched.

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Flutterwave is teaming up with India’s IndusInd Bank to launch its Send App remittance product right into the heart of India.
IndusInd Bank boasts an impressive 35 million customers. This strategic alliance is all about connecting Flutterwave which already has a firm footing in 30 African countries to the economic powerhouse that is India.
Flutterwave has been on a roll, securing a payment services license in Egypt in June and obtaining name approval for its remittance business in August.
Flutterwave edging closer to acquiring a money remittance license from the Central Bank of Kenya.

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California is set to pass the country’s first legislation that aims to increase diversity in venture capital.
The bill requires venture capital firms operating in California to report the diversity breakdown of the founders they fund to the state; this includes reporting on the gender and ethnic and racial background of the founders, in addition to the dollar amount given to them.
Senator Nancy Skinner, the bill’s sponsor, says that she’s very optimistic that Newsom will sign the bill.
Founder and tech activist Allison Byers, who helped ideate and draft SB 54, says bills like this have precedence in California.

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Google is updating its political content policy to include a new mandate.
The search giant announced on Wednesday that all verified election advertisers are to tell people if their ads use artificial intelligence (AI) in campaign content.
Starting mid-November, election advertisers must tell people if their ads use artificial intelligence (AI) to create images, videos, or audio that look real. T
his disclosure must be clear and obvious, and it must be placed where people are likely to see it. This policy will apply to all ads that are created or manipulated using AI, including ads that appear on Google’s search engine, YouTube, and other platforms.

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Kenya’s Communications Authority is addressing the regulatory challenges of emerging technologies.
The CA has suggested establishing regulatory sandboxes to oversee new technologies like digital currencies. A regulatory sandbox is used to assess technological services under supervision before they are fully integrated into the regulatory framework to ensure compliance and assess potential risks.
WorldCoin’s activities have raised concerns about data privacy and compliance with existing laws.

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The Kenyan Film Classification Board urged TikTok to disable the live feature to stop the growing trend of content creators making explicit sexual content on TikTok Lives at night.
Kenya’s House of Assembly received a petition from a concerned citizen calling for a TikTok ban due to the trend of explicit sexual content on the platform.
President Ruto however says an outright ban is not the solution, considering many Kenyans are building careers through content creation.
He told TikTok to enhance content moderation on the platform.

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Globalstar, a satellite network operator backed by Apple, has purchased launches from SpaceX worth $64 million.
The launches, which are scheduled for 2025, will send at least 17 new satellites to low Earth orbit to replenish Globalstar’s existing constellation.
Globalstar entered into a $327 million purchase agreement with MDA for those satellites in February last year, with Rocket Lab acting as subcontractor supplying the spacecraft chassis.
Apple is reimbursing Globalstar for 95% of the capital expenditures related to the satellites, including the launch costs.
The consumer hardware giant also agreed to provide $252 million in funding for the upfront costs associated with replenishing the satellite constellation, as well as money to improve the satellite operator’s ground station network.
In return, Apple said it would use 85% of Globalstar’s network capacity to provide emergency satellite connectivity for iPhones outside of cellular networks.

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Tesla just chopped $3,000 off the price of its “full self-driving” beta software.
The 20% cut brings the cost of FSD down to $12,000 in North America.
The automaker charges $6,000 for what it calls “Enhanced Autopilot,” which introduces some extras to help with parking, as well as pulling the vehicle out of tight spots via a smartphone app.
Tesla owners can buy FSD, which includes all the enhanced autopilot features as well as the ability to detect and (ideally) stop at traffic lights and stop signs.
Tesla recalled its FSD software and temporarily paused new and pending installations back in February.
The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration has since raised safety concerns about FSD, which Tesla intends to eventually license to other automakers.

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MIT economists Arnaud Costinot and Iván Werning discuss the potential impact a proposed 'robot tax' could have on automation and jobs
Arnaud Costinot and Iván Werning say their findings suggest that taxes on either robots or imported goods should be pretty small.
Costinot says Although robots have an effect on income inequality they still lead to optimal taxes that are modest
Prominent figures, including Bill Gates and Bernie Sanders, have called for some form of taxation over the years.
Gates cited, among other things, a broad, simultaneous displacement of jobs across a spectrum of industries.

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Egyptian payments provider Fawry, will be turning its online payment portal—myFawry—into a digital bank to provide financial services including payments, consumer lending, savings, and investments, by the end of 2023.
The company’s head of investor relations, Hassan Abdelgelil clarified that the decision to launch a digital bank is yet to be finalised.
The Central Bank of Egypt issued rules for licensing, registering, monitoring, and supervising digital banks. Like Fawry, several companies such as eFinance and Opay have shown interest in applying for a digital banking license.

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